Making a Fortune From Junk



I was never a gamer, and not a hoarder, either, but both of those things just made Tanner Sandlin of Austin, Texas, a little bit richer. He sold his boxed (but used) cartridge of Air Raid for the Atari 2600 for $31,600 on eBay. The game is only one of 13 known copies to still exist, and the only known copy to still have its box.

And the only reason Tanner Sandlin still had it, with box intact, is because he is a bit of a packrat and never got rid of it.

Me? Even if I’d had it, it would have gone the way of lots of other things I once had…off to the thrift store or into the trash. If I haven’t used it for a year, I don’t need it (so my rational brain thinks) and I toss it or give it away. Mr. Sandlin did no such thing, and now he’s $31,600 richer.

I wonder what he’ll do with the money. I wonder what I’d do with a $31,600 windfall. What would you do with it? And do you have a copy of Air Raid I can buy off you, cheap?


3 thoughts on “Making a Fortune From Junk

  1. ET, thanks for the comment. I hate how the text gets too close to the graphic, and couldn’t find a good way to fix it. I’ll employ this method in the future!

  2. Can you put a little buffer between the text and the picture? When you upload a picture in wordpress there is an option to add vertical and horizontal space.

    1. Upload you image
    2. Click on the image
    3. Click on the icon on the right (not the red delete image)
    4. Click the “Advaced Settings Tab”
    5. Image Properties “Vertical & Horizontal Space”
    6. Add a “2” or more to it, until you like the look.
    7. Finished :-)

    Thanks, It is just a pet peeve ;-)

  3. The other 9,987 copies of Air Raid that were manufactured are probably buried out in the Nevada desert. I think a Goonies style treasure hunt is called for!

    I still have a bunch of old Atari 2600 cartridges, with boxes though they are pretty battered. No Air Raid though, sorry to disappoint!

Comments are closed.